Brick Lane Circle 
Working to help transform the intellectual landscape of the Bangladeshis in the UK and discover the shared common roots of Britain's diverse communities
Story of Bangladesh and Bangladeshi People at Home and in the Diaspora
Due to time constraints a report on the conference has yet to be completed. We plan to place a number of videos of the conference on the website. Hopefully this should be possible by the weekend of 25 /26 June 2011.
Conference videos
Due to time constraints a report on the conference has yet to be completed. We plan to place a number of videos of the conference on the website. Hopefully this should be possible by the weekend of 25 /26 June 2011.
Conference videos
Sarmila Bose's publications on the Bangladesh Liberation War 1971 and responses by critics and commentators
Brick Lane Circle's seminar on: How can we apply critical thinking to understand 1971?
By Sarmila Bose
Click to watch seminar video
Brick Lane Circle's seminar on: How can we apply critical thinking to understand 1971?
By Sarmila Bose
Click to watch seminar video
Welcome to website of Brick Lane Circle!
We hope you will find the website interesting, informative and stimulating. If you have any suggestions about how we can create opportunities for visitors to interact with materials posted and important debates and discussion we would like to hear from you.
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We hope you will find the website interesting, informative and stimulating. If you have any suggestions about how we can create opportunities for visitors to interact with materials posted and important debates and discussion we would like to hear from you.
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Ruhana Ali talks about the Battle of Plassey Young People’s Project and tea plantations in Sylhet by the East India Company
Ruhana Ali is a co-author of Plassey’s Legacy, who wrote a chapter on Tea: dividing politics, uniting heritage.
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Ruhana Ali is a co-author of Plassey’s Legacy, who wrote a chapter on Tea: dividing politics, uniting heritage.
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Dr. Georgie Wemyss talks about the East India Company and East India Docks
She is the author of
The Invisible Empire: White Discourse, Tolerance and Belonging
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She is the author of
The Invisible Empire: White Discourse, Tolerance and Belonging
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Amazing Bangladeshis - inspiring everyone to become extraordinary
How inspiring ideas can energise a people into undertaking extraordinary deeds
By Jebi Rahman
She is Programme Officer, BRAC UK. She recently took part in a seven day cycle challenge from Sylhet to Cox’s Bazaar to raise money for Vision Bangladesh, a BRAC and Sightsavers International initiative to eradicate avoidable blindness in Bangladesh by 2020. The tour was organised by Xperime Adventures and part sponsored by the Akij Group to raise awareness about climate change.
Jebi made an inspiring presentation at Brick Lane Circle’s launch event for the Amazing Bangladeshis initiative at the Idea Store Whitechapel on Thursday 16 December 2010, 7-9pm. This was the 39th Anniversary of the 1971 Liberation War Victory.
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How inspiring ideas can energise a people into undertaking extraordinary deeds
By Jebi Rahman
She is Programme Officer, BRAC UK. She recently took part in a seven day cycle challenge from Sylhet to Cox’s Bazaar to raise money for Vision Bangladesh, a BRAC and Sightsavers International initiative to eradicate avoidable blindness in Bangladesh by 2020. The tour was organised by Xperime Adventures and part sponsored by the Akij Group to raise awareness about climate change.
Jebi made an inspiring presentation at Brick Lane Circle’s launch event for the Amazing Bangladeshis initiative at the Idea Store Whitechapel on Thursday 16 December 2010, 7-9pm. This was the 39th Anniversary of the 1971 Liberation War Victory.
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Tea for the Raj: a History of Tea in Assam and Sylhet
By Roy Moxham
By Roy Moxham
He recently retired from the University of London. His most well-known book is The Great Hedge of India, part-travelogue, part-historical treatise on the author's quest to find a 1500-mile long customs hedge built by the British in India to prevent smuggling of salt and opium. His second book, Tea: Addiction, Exploitation and Empire focuses on the effect of British tea addiction on British policies in Asia and Africa, and includes the author's own experience as a tea plantation manager in Africa.
1st Seminar, 22 January 2009
2007 Annual Brick Lane Circle
SEMINARS ON BANGLADESH AND BANGLADESHIS ABROAD
Every Thursday, 7-9pm, 22 January - 9 April 2009
Lab 5, Idea Store Whitechapel, 321 Whitechapel Rd, London E1 1BU
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1st Seminar, 22 January 2009
2007 Annual Brick Lane Circle
SEMINARS ON BANGLADESH AND BANGLADESHIS ABROAD
Every Thursday, 7-9pm, 22 January - 9 April 2009
Lab 5, Idea Store Whitechapel, 321 Whitechapel Rd, London E1 1BU
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Post 1980 Drivers of Economic Change in Bangladesh
By Professor Mushtaq Khan
By Professor Mushtaq Khan
Professor of economics at School of African and Oriental Studies. He was born in Dhaka in 1961, completed his undergraduate studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford and then won a scholarship for his PhD studies in Economics at Cambridge. Previously he taught at the universities of both Oxford and Cambridge . Information about his research interests and publications are available on his website: http://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff31246.php
5th Seminar, 15 February 2007
2007 Annual Brick Lane Circle
SEMINARS ON BANGLADESH AND BANGLADESHIS ABROAD
Every Thursday, 7-9pm, 18 January - 5 April 07
Whitechapel Sports Centre, Durwood Street, London E1 5BA
5th Seminar, 15 February 2007
2007 Annual Brick Lane Circle
SEMINARS ON BANGLADESH AND BANGLADESHIS ABROAD
Every Thursday, 7-9pm, 18 January - 5 April 07
Whitechapel Sports Centre, Durwood Street, London E1 5BA
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Battle of Plassey Day: 23 June every year
How should we remember 23 June 1757? This day in June this year will be 254 years after the Battle of Plassey when the English East India Company conquered Bengal, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The battle itself was quite an insignificant event, lasting only a day and fought on an unimportant field, about 100 miles north of Kolkata (Calcutta). However, it was a highly momentous event, being the springboard for and the beginning of the British Indian Empire. More ...
Walcot Hall, Shropshire
Robert Clive purchased Walcot estate in 1764 for £90,000 from his Bengal loot
How should we remember the day?
Battle of Plassey Day: 23 June every year
How should we remember 23 June 1757? This day in June this year will be 254 years after the Battle of Plassey when the English East India Company conquered Bengal, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The battle itself was quite an insignificant event, lasting only a day and fought on an unimportant field, about 100 miles north of Kolkata (Calcutta). However, it was a highly momentous event, being the springboard for and the beginning of the British Indian Empire. More ...
Walcot Hall, Shropshire
Robert Clive purchased Walcot estate in 1764 for £90,000 from his Bengal loot
How should we remember the day?
Bengal History Week 3-9 October 2011
Brick Lane Circle organised its second Annual Bengal History Week during 3-9 October 2011. In total there were seven events covering the seven days of the week and held in venues around Tower Hamlets. It started with a launch event and the first seminar of the week on Monday 3 Oct 2011 at the Kobi Nazrul Centre in East London. A number of quests speakers spoke very highly of the Bengal History Week and offered to be supportive of such and similar events. They include Cllr. Rania Khan (Cabinet Member for Culture, Tower Hamlets Council), Cllr. Joshua Peck (Leader of the Labour Group, Tower Hamlets Council) and Murad Qureshi (London Assembley Member).
The first seminar (3 October 2011) was given by Madhusree Mukerjee on Placing the Great Bengal Famine in the Global Context. The room was totally full with people standing at the back. During the Q&A session a variety of questions were asked and many issues explored by the participants.
Madhusree Mukerjee is the author of Churchill's Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India during World War II (2010) and The Land of Naked People: Encounters with Stone Age Islanders (2003). She previously served as an editor with Scientific American magazine. She lives in Germany.
According to Madhusree the Bengal famine of 1943 has generally been regarded as an unfortunate outcome of local factors. It was also, however, a wartime famine, and setting it in the context of World War II reveals the pressures exerted upon Indian grain markets by the British War Cabinet. A series of War Cabinet decisions in 1943 regarding the allocation of shipping precipitated and exacerbated the famine. The War Cabinet was stockpiling wheat for future use—which activity combined with Churchill’s hostility toward Indians to preclude the possibility of sending adequate wheat to India.
Other topics covered during the week were : An introductory account of the early Portuguese community in Bengal by Dr M Ahmedullah; Decoding the East India Company (EIC) Army: A brief Introduction by Imran Jamal; Master of empathy: how Tagore's experience of rural East Bengal in the 1890s made him a master of prose as well as poetry by William Radice; The Biharis: A history of the Urdu speaking migrant community in Bangladesh by Ruhul Abidin; Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein (1880-1932) - Breaking the Barriers by Shaheen Westcombe MBE with Claudia Jazz Hayley and Showmi Das of the Rokeya Project.
The last seminar of the week (9 October 2011) was given by Professor Mushtaq Khan on The Failure of the Pakistan experiment in East Pakistan: Economic Growth and Political Crisis 1947-71.
It was held at Idea Store Whitechapel. Again the room was completely full with many people standing on the sides and at the back. Professor Mushtaq Khan is Professor of economics at SOAS, who completed his undergraduate studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford and then studied PhD in Economics at Cambridge.
Bengal History Week Ocotber 2011
We will be posting videos of Madhusree Mukerjee's and Professor Mushtaq Khan's seminars.
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Brick Lane Circle organised its second Annual Bengal History Week during 3-9 October 2011. In total there were seven events covering the seven days of the week and held in venues around Tower Hamlets. It started with a launch event and the first seminar of the week on Monday 3 Oct 2011 at the Kobi Nazrul Centre in East London. A number of quests speakers spoke very highly of the Bengal History Week and offered to be supportive of such and similar events. They include Cllr. Rania Khan (Cabinet Member for Culture, Tower Hamlets Council), Cllr. Joshua Peck (Leader of the Labour Group, Tower Hamlets Council) and Murad Qureshi (London Assembley Member).
The first seminar (3 October 2011) was given by Madhusree Mukerjee on Placing the Great Bengal Famine in the Global Context. The room was totally full with people standing at the back. During the Q&A session a variety of questions were asked and many issues explored by the participants.
Madhusree Mukerjee is the author of Churchill's Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India during World War II (2010) and The Land of Naked People: Encounters with Stone Age Islanders (2003). She previously served as an editor with Scientific American magazine. She lives in Germany.
According to Madhusree the Bengal famine of 1943 has generally been regarded as an unfortunate outcome of local factors. It was also, however, a wartime famine, and setting it in the context of World War II reveals the pressures exerted upon Indian grain markets by the British War Cabinet. A series of War Cabinet decisions in 1943 regarding the allocation of shipping precipitated and exacerbated the famine. The War Cabinet was stockpiling wheat for future use—which activity combined with Churchill’s hostility toward Indians to preclude the possibility of sending adequate wheat to India.
Other topics covered during the week were : An introductory account of the early Portuguese community in Bengal by Dr M Ahmedullah; Decoding the East India Company (EIC) Army: A brief Introduction by Imran Jamal; Master of empathy: how Tagore's experience of rural East Bengal in the 1890s made him a master of prose as well as poetry by William Radice; The Biharis: A history of the Urdu speaking migrant community in Bangladesh by Ruhul Abidin; Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein (1880-1932) - Breaking the Barriers by Shaheen Westcombe MBE with Claudia Jazz Hayley and Showmi Das of the Rokeya Project.
The last seminar of the week (9 October 2011) was given by Professor Mushtaq Khan on The Failure of the Pakistan experiment in East Pakistan: Economic Growth and Political Crisis 1947-71.
It was held at Idea Store Whitechapel. Again the room was completely full with many people standing on the sides and at the back. Professor Mushtaq Khan is Professor of economics at SOAS, who completed his undergraduate studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford and then studied PhD in Economics at Cambridge.
Bengal History Week Ocotber 2011
We will be posting videos of Madhusree Mukerjee's and Professor Mushtaq Khan's seminars.
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Channel S Awards 2011
On the evening of 7 April 2011 Channel S held its annual awards at their mega studio in Walthamstow, where guests, celebrities and presenters created an amazing must be at event. Brick Lane Circle was among 19 categories of winners. The award to Brick Lane Circle was for Achievement in Education Research / Teaching, which was in recognition for publishing the book called Plassey's Legacy, researched and written by eight young people aged 18-25.
This initiative was part of a project ran by Brick Lane Circle called the Battle of Plassey Young People's Project, developed to encourage more research and learning about the shared past of Britain and Bengal / Bangladesh - funded by Heritage Lottery Fund. Further details of the project can be obtained by visiting www.the-eastindiacompany.org.
Three of the eight young researchers attended the event to collect the award if successful. They are: Lothifa Chowdhury, Ruhana Ali and Atif Kazi,who were thrilled when they found out that we won.
You can get the full list of winners of the Channel S Awards 2011 by clicking below:
Channel S Awards 2011
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On the evening of 7 April 2011 Channel S held its annual awards at their mega studio in Walthamstow, where guests, celebrities and presenters created an amazing must be at event. Brick Lane Circle was among 19 categories of winners. The award to Brick Lane Circle was for Achievement in Education Research / Teaching, which was in recognition for publishing the book called Plassey's Legacy, researched and written by eight young people aged 18-25.
This initiative was part of a project ran by Brick Lane Circle called the Battle of Plassey Young People's Project, developed to encourage more research and learning about the shared past of Britain and Bengal / Bangladesh - funded by Heritage Lottery Fund. Further details of the project can be obtained by visiting www.the-eastindiacompany.org.
Three of the eight young researchers attended the event to collect the award if successful. They are: Lothifa Chowdhury, Ruhana Ali and Atif Kazi,who were thrilled when they found out that we won.
You can get the full list of winners of the Channel S Awards 2011 by clicking below:
Channel S Awards 2011
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